What Does Sus Mean?
Sus is short for suspicious or suspect. If something is sus, it's giving off weird, untrustworthy, or questionable vibes. It can refer to a person, situation, behavior, or anything that makes you go "hmm, something's not right here."
It's the verbal equivalent of squinting at someone. You're not making accusations yet, but you're definitely paying attention.
Where Did Sus Come From?
"Sus" as slang has been around in British and Australian English for quite a while — people were saying "that's a bit sus" long before the internet. But its MASSIVE explosion came from Among Us, the multiplayer game that dominated 2020.
In Among Us, players try to identify the "impostor" among them, leading to constant accusations of "that's sus" and "you're acting sus." The game was so wildly popular during lockdown that "sus" permanently embedded itself into internet vocabulary.
How to Use Sus
- Calling out behavior: "He liked her photo from 47 weeks ago. That's sus."
- Questioning something: "This email asking for my social security number is mad sus."
- Playful: "Why are you being so nice? Sus."
Examples in the Wild
"my roommate came home with flowers for no reason. extremely sus behavior."
"the wifi being fast today is honestly sus. what's the catch."
Why It Matters
Sus perfectly captures a very modern feeling: the constant low-level suspicion that the internet has given us. We've been trained to question everything — scam emails, catfishing, fake news — so having a quick, punchy word for "something's off" just makes sense. Sus isn't paranoia. It's pattern recognition. 🕵️